Muggle drinks and misunderstandings
by Flightglow32
Summary: A night out drinking leads to a big misunderstanding. Written for strictly Dramione spring fest.


**A/N:** Thank you to my betas Maloreiy and Sinful824 for the help they gave.

Draco Malfoy stares down at the mass of writhing bodies, wondering why he bothered to come tonight.

He draws on the drink in his hand. Ah yes, Muggle alcohol has a higher potency than Wizard booze does, that's why he agreed to this.

He should be back at the castle studying.  
N.E. are just two weeks away. Not only is he wasting a whole evening here, he's fairly certain tomorrow will be painful. Hangover potions have little effect against Muggle drinks.

This bar is his favorite of the Muggle bars that Theo drags him to. The upper level wraps around the walls, leaving a wide expanse of empty floor to watch the crowd below.

Draco has always loved people watching. Studying them, learning their weaknesses-little ticks that can be used against them. He doesn't do much of that anymore.

He hasn't managed what Theo has achieved, universal popularity, but he's hardly hated anymore.

Theo was smarter than him; first week of school, he'd befriended Granger. She defended Theo, introduced him to all her friends, kept her favorite study buddy close.

She was civil, bordering on pleasant to Draco. He knew it was only for Theo.

A lot of what both of them did was for Theo.

That's why they were both there tonight. Theo wanted to party. Stress relief, he'd called it. A night to drink and dance away the stress.

Draco was fine with the first, not so much the latter.

A body presses against him from behind. A quick glance over his shoulder confirms his suspicions; Blaise has come to harass him. Blaise wraps his arms around Draco's waist pressing his cheek against Draco's.

Draco lets him because he knows Blaise can and will do so much worse.

"I hate it when you skulk away from the rest of us up here. Brooding isn't sexy anymore," Blaise tells him.

"That's my goal in life, to be sexy." Draco rolls his eyes at his friend.

"Are you even going to try to get laid tonight?" Blaise asks him.

"We have exams in two weeks. I don't need the distraction."

"One night of fucking is not a distraction."

Draco ignores him.

"Granger is here tonight."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, if we're talking about people who's goal in life is to be sexy, that girl has it sorted."

"You don't swing that way," Draco laughs.

"Tonight, she's got even me tempted," Blaise whispers.

Blaise grabs Draco's chin forcing his head to turn to find the girl. Blaise lets go when he feels Draco stiffen in shock.

Draco isn't sure how he hadn't spotted her. Now that he has, she has his full attention.  
She's dancing with Potter, if dancing is what you call that. Grinding their bodies in time to the music as Potter's better half brings them another round of shots and drinks. He watches her throat convulse as she swallows the drink, swapping partners to dance with Pansy. He watches as the two girls move together, dresses clinging to their bodies.

Granger's dress is a sheer material with silver detailing that keeps it from revealing all. It dips low at the back stopping just below the curve of her spine. Despite having full breasts, she's chosen to skip a bra. He watches as her firm flesh moves uninhibited. Pansy is clad in red silk.

The men in the club watch the girls in their dance. Draco drains his glass, handing the empty off to Blaise, and makes his way down the stairs.

He stops beside Theo, close to where they're dancing.

"Being sociable? Not like you." Theo grins before turning back to the show. The Weasley girl has joined them, matching their rhythm.

"Like the dress?" Potter asks, leaning in to shout by his ear. It's harder to hear down here.

"Don't think it would fit me," Draco replies, making Potter laugh.

He turns his attention back to the girls. Hermione's dress must be held up with magic. His gaze is fixed on her hips.

"Someone will cut in soon," Potter tells him nodding towards the crowd watching. "I'm getting Pansy, can you grab Hermione before someone else does?" Potter asks clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Draco nods. He'll do the chivalrous thing and keep her safe.

"You'll have to dance with her," Theo warns, as he prepares to grab Weasley, the three of them moving in together.

Theo gets there first, leaving the two girls dancing. Draco and Harry approach together. As Harry slips his hands around Pansy's waist she turns into him, kissing Harry with a little too much enthusiasm for a public place.

Draco slides his hands around Hermione from behind. He feels her tense.

"It's me," he says by her ear as she turns to glance at him.

This is it, the possibility she might slap him and tell him to bugger off. It's what he expects, it's not like it would be the first time she's slapped him.

What he gets is her relaxing back into his arms, molding her body into his. Her hands come around to grip his arse, pulling him closer to her. She grinds her arse into his groin in time with the music. He tries to pivot his hips away to conceal his erection.

Hermione spins in his arms to face him.

"I know you're hard, you don't need to hide it. I want to feel your cock against my arse," she says into his ear, fighting against the music to be heard. She turns back around before he can respond. Placing her body back against his, she grabs his hands placing them around her waist.

Draco keeps up with the rhythm she sets. He tries to ignore his friends. A quick glance up shows Blaise has taken his spot on the balcony. Blaise raises his glass to him; Draco looks back down at the witch in his arms.

He starts to slide his hands up, waiting for the moment she stops him.

She doesn't.

Neither Potter, nor Theo look their way. In fact, glancing round he can't see any of their group.

"Where did everyone go?" He asks Hermione. She shrugs in response.

"Don't know, don't care," she sings before dissolving into giggles.

"You're completely pissed, aren't you?" Draco asks, spinning her to face him.

"I may have had a few," she admits, grinning.

"Come on. I think we're done for the night," he says, and guides her out of the bar.

Hermione giggles as she stumbles. He picks her up, carrying her one hand behind her back, the other under her knees.

"I'm not wearing any underwear," she tells him. He puts her down, making her climb on his back instead.

"Wrap your legs around me," he demands.

"It's more fun when I'm facing your front," she whispers against his ear, licking at his earlobe.

"I'm trying to get you back safe. Theo and Potter will kill me if anything happens to you."

He walks them to somewhere private enough to Apparate, glad he'd taken it slow on the drinks tonight.

"Granger, you need to stop that so I can Apparate us. I can barely think," he groans, as her mouth sucks on his ear lobe, flicking it with her tongue. She releases it, making him sigh in relief.

"It's okay, there are other things I'd rather have in my mouth," she whispers, as her hand inches down his body closer to his groin.

He grabs her wrist.

"I'll splinch us if you keep that up."

She brings her hand back, clamping it to the other one.

Draco grips her arms at his neck with one hand as the other grips his wand.  
He Apparates them to Hogsmeade.

Hermione shifts on his back bringing her heated core in contact with his skin where his shirt has ridden up. He can feel just how wet she is.

Draco walks them back to the castle. After ten minutes, he gives up trying to stop her roaming hands and tries to just ignore her.

The way he's holding her limits her movements, but her mouth has easy access to his neck and ears. She bites, sucks and nibbles at him. He struggles to keep his focus.

Outside the door to her bedroom, Draco breathes a sigh of relief. He opens the door, walking them over to the bed. He tries to drop her onto the bed from his back but she drags him down with her.

Somehow, they land with her straddling him, as he lays flat on his back trying to catch his breath from his sudden drop.

Hermione leans down to kiss him, he can taste the sticky residue from the shots she's been drinking, almost too sweet.

She sits up, and gripping the hem of her dress, she pulls it off, leaving her sitting naked on top of him. His eyes roam her bare flesh, causing him to harden even more.

She giggles as she leans down to kiss him again, reminding him of just how drunk she is.

He sighs as he pushes her off of him, stumbling from the bed.

"We can't," he says, backing away, adjusting his painfully hard prick. "It wouldn't be right."

He fumbles for the door handle as he looks back at her, watching as her confusion turning to fury.

"I'm sorry," he says, as he slips out of the room.

Standing in the corridor, he rests his forehead against her door, warring with himself. When something that sounds suspiciously like a book hits the door, he turns to walk the few feet to his own room.

Doing the right thing sucks sometimes.

* * *

Draco's the first to breakfast the next morning. He sits at the Slytherin table separate from the rest of his house. Eighth years get their own rooms and a shared common room but they're expected to join their houses at meal times.

He's finished eating and is drinking his tea when the others start to arrive.

Granger glares at him while she eats. Potter comes over to sit with him as Blaise and Theo enter the hall. None of them look happy with him, either.

They sit, staring at him in silence.

"I didn't touch her. She was so pissed she could barely stand, so I got her back here and put her to bed."

"Oh, we know," Potter says, still glaring at him.

"So what's with all the dark looks then?" he asks, confused.

"The whole point of the night out was so you'd end the night in bed with her. It was all Hermione's plan," Theo tells him.

"How many more hints did you need?" Blaise asks, condescension laces his tone as he rolls his eyes.

"She was too drunk to say yes," he mutters.

"You were being a gentleman?" Potter asks incredulous.

"It has been known to happen," Draco replies, dryly.

Potter bursts into laughter.

"Right now, Hermione thinks you don't want her. That you don't find her attractive and that's why you left."

"Shit," he responds, looking up at her, stunned.

Draco attempts to smile at her as their eyes meet across the room. Hermione gets to her feet and storms out of the hall. After a moment's hesitation, he follows her out, rushing to catch up.

"Granger, wait. Hermione, let me explain," Draco shouts.

Her pace picks up, he watches as she rounds a corner losing sight of her. When he turns the corner, she's gone.

He tries a few doors, even unlocking some. There's no way he's going to manage to find her like this.

He returns to the Great Hall for some coffee; he's going to need it today.

Draco returns to his seat, the others are still there.

"You didn't catch her," Theo sighs.

"No, she just vanished. I'll find her today somehow," Draco replies.

"Where did you lose her?" Harry asks.

"Third floor corridor," Draco says.

"There's a secret passageway there, behind the hump witch statue," Harry tells him.

"Of course there is."

"She's probably gone by now," Blaise says as Draco starts to get up.

"How am I supposed to find someone in a castle this big when they know all the secret passages and I don't?" Draco asks.

"I might be able to help with that," Harry offers, he gets up and leaves.

"Oh yeah, fantastic help." Draco rolls his eyes, staring at Harry's retreating back.

"So, Theo, Weasley? You guys public now or do we have to keep pretending we don't know about you?" Blaise asks.

"You knew?" Theo replies.

"Of course we knew," Draco scoffs, "Neither of you have been subtle about it. The amount of times you've come back from the "library" stinking of sex, we figured something was going on."

"She wants to go public at the end of school barbecue. She wants me to meet her parents that day," Theo sighs.

"About fucking time," Blaise laughs.

Theo grins widely, a slight blush across his cheeks, "Well gentlemen, I need to spend the day in the library or I have no chance of the grades I want."

Theo leaves them before they can ask if he's actually going to the library.

Blaise grins at Draco, it's just the two of them sat there now, "How far did Granger get before you left?"

"She… Umm… she'd pulled me onto the bed and was straddling me naked," Draco admits.

"And then you just left?"

"I apologised," Draco says blushing.

"You really are a fucking idiot, aren't you?" Blaise asks shaking his head.

"I'm not going to sit here and be insulted," Draco says getting up, storming out as Blaise starts laughing.

"Ah, young love," Blaise snickers, helping himself to another crumpet.

* * *

Draco leaves the castle, taking a walk around the lake to clear his head and hopefully bump into Granger.

Someone else finds him first.

"Malfoy, oi Malfoy wait up. I want to talk to you," Ginny Weasley shouts after him. He stops with a sigh to let her catch up to him. He doesn't turn to face her, she soon as she's beside him he starts to walk again.

"Are you here to give me shit too?" he asks tiredly.

"No, of course not. Who gave you a hard time?"

"Your boyfriend, your ex and Blaise," Draco teases.

"He told you?"

"He didn't have to," Draco counters.

"It might have just been dancing," Ginny shrugs.

Draco gives her a disbelieving look, making her laugh.

"So, what went wrong last night?"

"Hasn't Granger already told you?"

"I'm asking for your side," Ginny says.

Draco explains everything.

"She wasn't meant to get that drunk," Ginny says frowning.

"I tried to talk to her earlier but she disappeared," Draco says.

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I just didn't think she was interested in me," Draco mutters.

"You two are pathetic," Ginny sneers, "You're the only two people in the school who couldn't feel the tension between you."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Keep looking for her? She was in the library last time I saw her," Ginny offers.

"Thank you. If you see Granger…"

"I'll talk to her," Ginny smiles at him.

Draco turns and jogs back to the castle. He has to find her today.

* * *

Hermione wasn't in the library. Theo said she left when he entered. He decides to check the eighth year common room but he doesn't make it that far.

Another Weasley had found him.

Ron, followed by his girlfriend Daphne, bumped into Draco in the corridor, with his fist.

Clutching his jaw, Draco resists the urge to hit back.

"Yay, Ron," Daphne squealed from behind Weasley.

"What the hell was that for?" Draco asks.

"You made Hermione cry," Ron states.

"She's crying? Where? Weasley I need to find her," Draco asks desperately, "hang on, do you even know _why_ she's crying?"

"I couldn't make out the words; just that it was something about you," Ron shrugs.

"Last night, Granger got very, very drunk and made a pass at me and I turned her down _because_ of how drunk she was. She seems to think it's because I don't want her," Draco explains slowly.

Ron opens his mouth, closes it then opens it again.

"Oh," He says sheepishly.

"Maybe next time, get the whole story before you decide to punch me and remember, Granger is more than capable of getting her own revenge," Draco reminds him.

"She is," Ron says proudly.

"Great. Glad we got that sorted. Where was she, Weasley?"

"Common room. Sorry I over reacted," Ron says rubbing his neck. "I'll help you find her."

Ron falls into step beside Draco as they go to the eighth year common room. Draco ignores him, just like he tries to ignore the throbbing in his jaw. Weasley's punches have got harder over the years.

Draco wrenches over the door to the common room.

"She's just left," Harry tells him, clutching an old bit of parchment, "But I know where she went. The Astronomy Tower, because you'd never think to look for her there."

"How long ago did she leave?"

"Just after Ron did, but she's still there," Harry tells him confidently.

"Fine, just make sure none of her other friends come throwing punches at me," Draco says, turning to leave the room as Harry starts to berate Ron for getting involved.

* * *

Draco climbs the Tower in record time. He hasn't been back here since that day. His hands are shaking as he throws open the door.

Hermione jumps at the noise. She looks around her as she realises the only form of escape is past him. Her face is red and puffy.

"Granger, I..."

"You embarrassed me," she says, taking a step towards him, "I set the whole thing up to get your attention and you just leave?"

Tears filling her eyes, she avoids looking at him, her cheeks aflame.

"You were drunk. Doing anything last night would have been taking advantage of you. You put me in a no-win situation," he shouts back.

"You didn't want me anyway," she sniffs, folding her arms across herself.

"The hard-on that still hasn't subsided entirely can prove I do want you, but I want you sober. It's flattering to neither of us that you had to take more than twenty shots to want to touch me," he sneers at her.

"You think I only wanted you because I was drunk?"

"That's how it felt last night," he shrugs, unable to admit that his pride was hurt. "I've spent most of today chasing you, which means you spent most of it running from me. I've been interrogated by one Weasley, punched by another, how do I know this isn't some elaborate scheme to make me look like a complete idiot for trying to talk to you."

"Ron hit you?" she asks coming closer to him, fingertips brushing over the discolouration on his jaw.

"And I didn't even hit him back. It's almost as if only one of us has matured," Draco replies laughing a little. Her fingers fall from his face.

"I'm sorry about my friends," Hermione says quietly.

Hermione starts to say something else, but catches herself before she does. She stares at him as she tries to work out how they can move past this.

"Come with me. I want to show you something." She smiles, shyly. He follows her down from the Astronomy Tower, back to their dormitories, and up into her room. They don't stop to talk to anyone as they walk.

"Stay here," she says, as she disappears into her bathroom.

When Hermione comes out, she's wearing the dress from the night before.

Now that he can see it properly, and he knows her intentions, he can see the dress was specially designed for him. Why else would Hermione Granger be wearing a dress with a silver serpent embroidered on it, concealing enough to make the dress wearable in public, but only just. As she moves closer, he can see his initials in the detailing.

"It's quite some dress," Draco says focusing on the details and not how little of her it covers, here in the bright light of her room it's more obvious than it was the night before.

"The girls helped me with it. You might not think it, but Pansy is incredible at clothing charms," Hermione says as her fingers began tracing the snake that only just conceals enough to make it possible to be seen in public.

"What was your aim? A one-night stand or were you after something more permanent?"

"Preferably the latter," she says with a shrug.

"Why didn't you just ask me out?"

"I tried but I could never get the words out. I panicked that we were running out of time."

"Hermione, all our friends are dating each other. Did you really think we'd never see each other again once school was over?"

Hermione blushes as she realises he's right.

"We have exams in two weeks. The only dates I'm willing to do until then are study dates." Draco offers.

"Sounds perfect," she grins, leaning into him.

This kiss is different than the ones from the night before. She doesn't taste of liquor. Drunk kissing tastes bad and it's sloppy. This is better, so much better.

When he pulls away and looks her over, he groans. "Any chance you could change again? There's no way I'll be able to concentrate with you wearing that. I might end up deciding I can't make it until the exams."

Hermione giggles but does as he asks, she hangs up the dress carefully. Seamus is doing an end-of-school party after the last exam; Hermione knows exactly what dress she's going to wear. After all, Pansy did promise that the dress would get her laid.


End file.
